Battle of Hamilton

The Battle of Hamilton was fought on the night of 30 November/1 December 1650 in and around the town of Hamilton in Scotland. It was a victory for units of the New Model Army over a group of extreme Covenanters or Whigs known as the Western Association. It enabled Oliver Cromwell to complete the conquest of southern Scotland begun after the Battle of Dunbar. It also had the paradoxical effect of improving the cause of Charles II, entrenched in the centre of the country, by removing some of the more divisive elements from the royalist war effort.

The Western Association

The period after Dunbar was a time of serious reflection for the Scots, though not all reached the same conclusion. Most believed that the purges of the army prior to the battle had made a major contribution to the defeat. There were those who took a contrary view: that the purges had not been thorough enough, and the army insufficiently Godly. At Stirling, where the Scots began regrouping after Dunbar, this argument was put forward by Colonel Archibald Strachan, who had defeated Montrose at the Battle of Carbisdale. Strachan and his chief associates, Colonel Gilbert Ker and Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Halket, had no hesitation in laying the blame for the defeat on General David Leslie. He was, in their view, an incompetent, graceless man to whom God would give no success. These men were no ordinary soldiers; for they represented the Western Association, a union of the Whig counties of south-west Scotland, modelled on the English Eastern Association. Causing too much dissension in Stirling, Strachan and his fellow Whigs were sent home to raise fresh forces. But the political divisions they raised were to have a far greater impact than their army.

Moss Troopers

Cromwell kept a close eye on these developments. So far, and despite his magnificent victory at Dunbar, the war in Scotland had been a disappointment. He had come to the country, so says Robert Baillie, believing he would have a quicker conquest than any of the English kings. But there had been no collapse, and it looked by early winter as if the war was going to drag on into the new year. His army, despite reinforcements, was seriously overstretched. Edinburgh Castle was an awkward problem, defying the best efforts of all his gunners and military engineers. Still worse, from October bands of royalist partisans began to appear in the area occupied by the English in the south-east. These men known as Mosstroopers or Tories-a term borrowed from the wars in Ireland-were soon to be a serious security threat. Operating in small bands from old medieval castles like Borthwick, Dirleton and Tantallon, they fell on stragglers, threatened communications and gathered military intelligence. Faced with this novel threat Cromwell, like many military commanders since, issued warnings of dire reprisals against all who assisted the partisans.

Cromwell Goes West

For Cromwell the key to this complex situation lay in the south-west. Not only did the Whigs of the Western Association occupy a vital strategic position across his flank, but they also offered the best prospect of political collaboration. On the one hand he took precautions to treat the Association as a military threat, while on the other opening up a friendly correspondence with Strachan and some of the others. In mid-October Cromwell made a military progress towards Glasgow. To create a good impression, his troops were instructed to be on their best behaviour. But neither the correspondence nor his good intentions produced the desired results, beyond the defection of Archibald Strachan. Now under the military leadership of Gilbert Ker, the Western Association remained defiant. With insufficient strength to hold Glasgow, Cromwell marched back to Edinburgh, still hoping until mid-November for some accommodation with his 'natural allies' in Scotland.

Joshua's Battle

Back in the east the English army began a series of operations to reduce the strongholds used by moss troopers. Newbattle Abbey was taken on 21 October, and Dalkieth Castle a week later. George Monck, fast acquiring a reputation as an artillery expert, was sent to attack Dirleton Castle, but his shells merely bounced off the thick walls. He returned again in November, this time armed with two mortars, newly arrived from Hull. Monk was now able to lob his shells over the walls into the soft interior of the castle. With no effective defence the garrison surrenderd. One by one the other strongholds fell, until Tantallon Castle, standing in defiant majesty on the East Lothian coast, held out alone.

By now the royal government, based in Perth had reached the end of its patience with the obstinate Western Association. So far the 4000 troops at Ker's disposal had accomplished nothing of any military value, compared with the moss troopers in the east. When Cromwell himself moved to take Borthwick Castle, Ker was ordered to hurry to its relief. He refused to move, claiming he had not the strength. Borthwick duly fell on 22 November, increasing the English hold on the Lothians. In frustration the Committee of Estates, the executive arm of the Scottish Parliament, at once dispatched Colonel Robert Montgomery with 3000 men to take over command of the western army from Ker. But Cromwell had made his own plans to deal with the threat in the west; and Ker, anxious to preserve some of his credibility, walked, as if blindfolded, straight into a trap.

Lambert's Ride

Cromwell had decided to end the stalemate in the west by force. Ker was at Rutherglen with a large body of cavalry and dragoons. Cromwell left Edinburgh on 27 November with eight regiments of cavalry, while General John Lambert, with an additional force, approached the Clyde Valley from the south-east. The following day the soldiers coming from Edinburgh caught sight of the Whigs on the opposite bank of the Clyde at Bothwell Bridge. Ker had taken the precaution of fortifying the old bridge against attack. Cromwell immediately saw that the enemy position was too strong to be forced, and the river too swollen to be forded. As Lambert had not yet arrived he decided that the prudent thing to do was to retire back to the east. Lambert, in the meantime, advancing quickly from the south, had managed to ford the Clyde by its more manageable upper reaches, and then across an unguarded bridge on the Avon Water, taking possession of the town of Hamilton on 30 November.

Ill Met By Moonlight

It was vital that this bridgehead be destroyed before the English consolidated their hold on the western counties. Ker hoped for a quick success, like Carbisdale, which would increase the bargaining power of the Western Association before Montgomery arrived, and remove some of the odium it had incurred by separating itself from the rest of the king's army. In the mistaken belief that Lambert had only a modest force, Ker decided to dislodge him from Hamilton in a surprise night attack. Unfortunately for him, the night of 30 November/1 December was bright with moonlight and the ground hardened with frost. At midnight the English pickets picked up the distant rumble made by the hoofs of the approaching Scottish cavalry. Forewarned, Lambert withdrew his guards from the moor outside the town, and prepared to draw the enemy into a trap. Ker's advance units under Colonel William Ralston were allowed to ride into Hamilton unopposed. Once in the streets, with their mobility severely restricted, the Scots were attacked by a party of English soldiers near the Tolbooth. The moon had now set, and the confused street battle that followed was punctuated only by the light of pistol fire. Bit by bit the Scots managed to master the situation, forcing the enemy to take cover in the houses. Ralston now believed, mistakenly, that he was in control of the town.

While the street battle was underway Ker had arrived on the outskirts of Hamilton with his remaining regiments on the western bank of the Cadzow Burn. After some initial reluctance to commit his troops to a battle in the streets, he was encouraged to move forward by reports of Ralston's success. As the Scots horses splashed through the waters of the burn, and then up the eastern bank, they were surprised in a sudden attack by a large party of enemy cavalry, emerging from the darkness. Ker, expecting to create a trap, had riden into one. He and his men did their best to fight back; but caught off balance by superior forces they gave way. The regiment commanded by Robert Halket was routed, but Ker fought a fierce rearguard action, many of his men being killed or wounded. Ker himself had his horse shot from under him, and was taken prisoner, his hand almost severed from his wrist. The fugitives from the battle were pursued as far as Ayr.

Ralston, meanwhile, realising just how illusory his victory had been, was faced with a renewed attack. In desperation, he and his men tried to cut their way out. Lord Sommerville described the fight;

"Most of the men's fyre being spent in the night service, they were necessitat now to dispute it with ther swords, which they did very gallantlie...but to ther great losse, being felled with the enemies shott, and cutt doune with the multitude of ther swords, which in a manner surrounded them, ther was the greatest slaughter imaginable."

Aftermath

After the Battle of Hamilton the Western Association ceased to exist. Ker's defeat greatly improved Cromwell's strategic position in southern Scotland; but it also improved the position of the king. With the western Whigs out of the reckoning there was nothing in the way of a general reconciliation, now desired by most Scots. James Turner, a professional soldier, made no secret of his own pleasure at the defeat of the extreme Covenanters;

"...if Lambert had not, by good fortune to us all, beaten Colonel Ker at Hammiltoun, I beleeve the King had beene just as safe at Perth, as his father was at Westminster."

References

PRIMARY
* "Letters and Papers Illustrating the Relations between Charles II and Scotland in 1650", ed. S. R. Gardiner, 1894.
* Turner, Sir James, "Memoirs of his own Life and Times, 1632-1670," 1829.

SECONDARY
* Campbell, A. H., "Cromwell's Edinburgh Campaign," in The Scots Magazine, vol. 18, 1932-33.
* Dawson, N. H., "Cromwell's Understudy: the Life and Times of General John Lambert", 1938.
* Douglas, W. S., "Cromwell's Scotch Campaign, 1650-51", 1898.
* Stevenson, D., "Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Scotland, 1644-51", 1977.
* Stevenson D, "The Covenanters and the Western Association", in Ayrshire Archaeological and natural History Society Collections, vol. 13, 1982.